A NORTH East MP “would need a helicopter” to get around her constituency under proposed boundary changes, it has been claimed.

Pat Glass, Labour MP for North West Durham, has called on her party members and local groups to put pressure on the Boundary Commissions after it proposed to create a new constituency stretching from the Tyne to the Tees, taking in communities such as Consett and Lanchester in her own patch.

Mrs Glass branded the idea of a constituency stretching from Haltwhistle in Northumberland to Barnard Castle in south Durham, as “unworkable”.

She said: “It’s difficult to see how any MP could maintain a high level of accessibility to constituents whilst trying to serve an area of 2,500 square kilometres, 60 miles from top to bottom.

“It would be difficult enough in summer but almost impossible in the winter.”

Under the Boundary Commission proposals, most of the existing North West Durham goes into a new constituency of Consett and Barnard Castle.

It would also cross the county boundary and go into Northumberland to cover South Tynedale and Haltwhistle.

Crook, Tow Law and Willington would move to the Bishop Auckland constituency and Dipton and Burnopfield would move to the new Chester-le-Street constituency.

Simon James, secretary of the independent Boundary Commission for England (BCE) said the controversial proposal was one of several under “extensive consultation”.

Public hearings are scheduled for Newcastle Civic Centre on November 14 and 15 and Carlisle Civic Centre on October 17.

Mr James said: “BCE was given clear principles and from that starting point we have found a solution that we think best meets Parliament’s rules and now we want to know what people think of our initial proposals.

“We welcome people’s participation until the consultation closes on December 5, 2011.”